9 marketing challenges and how to overcome them

Marketing can be complicated. Whether you're just starting out or have been in the game for years, the reality is that marketing strategies come and go and continually change. In a time when businesses are trying to utilize every single channel available to acquire new customers — from social media to paid ads to content marketing — it can be hard to know how to fit it all into your daily work and still maintain a quality level of service for your current customers. Big marketing challenges are what all businesses face at one point or another. But with the right tools and strategies, you can turn a problem into an opportunity. In this article, we'll cover some of the top marketing challenges business owners face today and how you can successfully overcome them.

Lead Generation

According to a survey by Inbound, the main challenge for modern marketers is generating traffic and leads. The increasing competition exacerbates this situation even more. It's worth considering the huge variety of platforms for promoting goods and services, which can make it really difficult to choose the right direction and concentrate efforts on it.

What should you do?

Create high-quality and in-demand content for your target audience. Surveys show that more than 40% of consumers crave video content, while only 20% prefer to read blogs. Do all marketers know what kind of content their customers want? Do they create truly engaging content? If you're able to create content that sparks user interest, it's important to promote it effectively so that users notice it. Nowadays, due to the abundance of content on the internet, it's not easy to compete for consumers' attention, but if you keep up with trends and experiment with formats, you'll succeed as a marketer.

Achieving ROMI

Marketing ROI or return-on-marketing-investment (ROMI) is a sub-metric of ROI that measures the efficiency of a marketing campaign for the purpose of assisting better decision-making for future investments.

The issue of the cost-effectiveness of marketing and promotional expenses has become increasingly important in recent years, as evidenced by survey data. Tracking and ensuring ROMI can be an even more challenging task if there is a lack of in-depth analysis of the effectiveness of each channel and each marketing activity, as well as a lack of information sharing between different departments within a company.

After all, achieving ROMI largely depends on directing resources towards the most conversion-focused channels, which is impossible without analyzing data and metrics.

What should be done?

Firstly, it is important to improve the interaction between the marketing and sales departments. Implementing software such as CRM systems to increase sales and analyze data can help identify weaknesses and strengths in business processes and find areas for growth. Tracking traffic sources and lead conversions into sales provides a clear understanding of whether your marketing is working or not, and whether budgets are being spent correctly.

According to surveys of marketers, the most effective strategy is inbound marketing in combination with SLA (Service Level Agreement) (the company's approach to organizing IT processes).

Recall that inbound marketing includes SEO, social media branding, blogging and various internet platforms, podcasts, videos, and other types of content marketing. The inbound marketing strategy is based on the need to generate interest among consumers.

Budget Size

Another challenge is justifying the expense on marketing promotion, which marketers are forced to defend. This is especially relevant for small companies.

How to solve it?

Measure ROMI. Analyze the effectiveness of advertising channels. The key to ensuring sufficient expenditure on promotion is measuring ROMI. Marketers surveyed cite measuring ROMI as the key to ensuring sufficient expenditure on promotion. On average, specialists who work with measuring the effectiveness of marketing investments have a budget that is 180% higher.

IM4U Marketing Agency was approached by a client who, with a fairly large marketing budget, had almost no results. We began by reviewing the client's business goals and current marketing budget. Then we identified areas where the client could optimize their budget by reallocating funds or using more cost-effective marketing channels. Finally, IM4U Marketing Agency created a customized plan that maximized the client's budget to achieve their desired outcomes while minimizing costs. We were continuously monitoring the campaign's performance and adjusted the plan as needed to ensure the client gets the most out of their marketing budget.

Increasing Website Effectiveness

Another problem is creating a truly effective website that not only attracts visitors, but also converts them into customers and achieves financial goals. The problems that marketers solve in this process can be quite diverse, such as how to create and optimize content or how to develop an emotionally engaging design.

What is the solution?

It is important to optimize the site's loading speed and ensure its adaptability to mobile platforms. If your problems are due to a lack of necessary specialists and finances, know that there are many marketers like you. This problem is particularly common in small firms. Hire a freelancer or consult a small, responsible agency. Marketing channel integration platforms can also help simplify a range of website improvement tasks.

Choosing Technological Solutions

Reviews, case studies, and reports can help marketers choose suitable software and platforms to implement their daily tasks. However, these reviews are often conflicting, which can make the choice more difficult.

What can be done?

Seek advice from friends, colleagues, and professionals, and closely examine all video reviews and case studies on working with various tools. The trial period for many services allows for a deeper understanding of the product and how it can solve your specific problems - do not overlook this opportunity.

Marketing automation using online platforms is designed to simplify your work. The survey showed that about 40% of marketers are already using more than 2 services and will continue to do so in the future.

The Problem of Content Targeting

A crucial aspect of marketing is precise targeting. Marketers know that by relying on detailed buyer personas, they can conduct successful advertising campaigns with high conversion rates. Study your target audience as well to achieve success in your marketing campaigns.

More information in our article “How to improve your PPC Ads - 8 advice you didn't know”.

The Development of AI 

Certainly, the development of AI represents a significant challenge for marketers today. On the one hand, AI tools, such as ChatGPT, Midjourney, Jasper can offer great benefits, such as increased efficiency, more accurate data analysis, and faster decision-making. On the other hand, integrating AI into existing marketing processes and workflows can be a complex task that requires significant planning and preparation.

How to overcome?

To overcome this challenge, marketers need to invest in training and education to ensure that they have the skills and knowledge necessary to use AI effectively. Additionally, marketers need to work closely with IT and data teams to develop new systems and processes that can integrate AI tools into existing workflows. Finally, marketers need to be mindful of the ethical implications of using AI in their work and ensure that they are using these tools in ways that are transparent, ethical, and respectful of customer privacy. With the right approach, however, AI can be a powerful tool that helps marketers to achieve their goals more efficiently and effectively.

Recruiting talented specialists

Demand for technically advanced and creative marketers in the job market today exceeds supply like never before. Talented specialists are needed by everyone, and searching for the right fit for your company can take months, while the work needs to be done now.

How to solve?

Create attractive conditions, taking into account that maintaining a balance between professional and personal lives is important for 69% of job seekers, while 41% are focused on career progress.

Also, growing specialists within your own company can help you solve this problem. Training and mentoring by experienced professionals can promote the development of diverse skills in key employees, to apply them in your work. This takes time and resources, so choose and train the most capable and eager ones.

False promises negatively affect brand attractiveness

Companies like Allstate Insurance and Avis Car Rental have set themselves on the path to inevitable failure by using enticing slogans and appeals. Meanwhile, their services never lived up to their grand promises. While Allstate promises "You're in good hands with Allstate", their customers are far from convinced. On the ConsumerAffairs website (which publishes consumer ratings for various companies), this insurance company has a rating of 3.7 out of 5. Avis' slogan "We try harder" is also far from the truth, with a rating of 3.2 out of 5. 

How to solve?

Perhaps a clever slogan can serve as a means of attracting new customers to your store or website, but it's important to remember that customers need concrete actions, not pretty words. If a visitor can't find what you promised them, all your efforts will go to waste. So let's only make promises that we can keep in order to effectively manage consumer expectations and loyalty.

Conclusion

In conclusion, marketing is a constantly evolving field, and the challenges faced by marketers are diverse and complex. However, with the right strategies and techniques, these challenges can be overcome. Brands need to focus on building a strong online presence, creating meaningful and authentic connections with customers, leveraging data and technology to gain insights and drive decision-making, and nurturing talent within their organization. By keeping up with industry trends and being adaptable, marketers can succeed in navigating the ever-changing marketing landscape and achieving their business goals.

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